The Price of Magic
by XxFallingFeathersxX
Summary: It was just a dream, right? Dreams aren't anything to be lingered on. But he still held a bit of irrational fear in his heart. / Contains violence later, kissing and stuff later, bad jokes from Jace [albeit later], Chairman Meow, and other things. Pairings include Clace, Simabelle, and Malec. R&R!
1. Prologue--Nightmares

**Since I got so many requests to continue one of my drabbles from "30 Pieces of Malec", I decided to :) But I'm not going to say which drabble I'm continuing, because that would just be a little spoiler, wouldn't it? ;) **

**I understand that this part is short-it's an almost-teaser called a 'prologue'! Chapter One will come soon, I promise, I promise :3**

**I also know that "For Your Entertainment" and "It Was One Of Those Nights" need to be continued, and I promise, that they will. "FYE" is a work-in-progress, and as for the other, well, you have to have a certain mindset to write lemons, am I right or is it just me?**

**(Does anyone even read these author's notes?)**

**So without further ado, my newest Mortal Instruments story, the prologue!**

**We're good, rockin', and ready to roll!**

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Alec couldn't move. He was frozen. It was so real. He wasn't really there, he knew in some subconscious part of his mind, and he knew he couldn't make a difference. But that didn't stop him from screaming soundlessly as the second man, the second warlock, conjured up a ball of energy effortlessly and flung it at the exhausted Downworlder just feet away from him.

"No!" The first warlock managed to stagger to the side and avoid the attack, and almost fell over. The second one laughed.

"You won't last much longer, Upworld-walker," he sneered.

"No…No! You won't—You're not going to win!" the first said, blood trickling down his chin as he coughed. "I won't let you."

"Won't let me? Brother"—and here he laughed—"you have no energy left to stop me with!"

The first one put both of his badly shaking hands out in front of him, sparks immediately wrapping around his palms and fingers. "You—won't—make it to Alicante! I won't let you!"

And there was a blinding flash, the rank scent of bad magic, and a loud scream…

_~vvv~_

…that Alec recognized as his own as he bolted upright in bed, clutching the blankets and gasping for air.

He was back in his room at the Institute, tangled up in his sheets. A faint, milky light was attempting to peek through the gap between the heavy black curtains in front of his window. His black comforter was wrapped tightly around his torso and his legs, and he kicked it off to free himself, sweating now.

There was the pounding of footsteps and his door flew open, letting the burning white of witchlight spill into his dark room. Once his eyes had adjusted properly, he saw Jace standing in the doorway, one hand on the handle of the longsword at his belt, the other holding a witchlight rune stone.

"Alec? I heard a scream—are you okay?" Jace asked, eyes big. His hair was messy and his shirt was only half-buttoned—Alec figured that his _parabatai_ had just woken up.

"F-Fine," Alec stammered. "Just—Just a nightmare. I'm fine."

Jace let his hand fall from the sword stuck through his weapons belt. "God, Alec, if you're going to have nightmares, don't wake up screaming from them. I thought someone was trying to knock you off in your sleep." He turned away, shaking his head. "You should get up—Maryse is making breakfast, and you and I have a training session at nine."

When Jace had left, Alec grabbed for his own witchlight stone, sitting on his nightstand. The bright glow poured from between his fingers as he held it in his closed hand. It was the third time he had had the same dream, and he couldn't shake the lingering worry that something was going to come of it. It was just a dream, right? Dreams aren't anything to be lingered on.

But he still held a bit of irrational fear in his heart.

Because the first warlock—was Magnus Bane.

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**Leave a review with your thoughts! :)**


	2. Chapter 1--The Incident

When he was stretching beside Jace, both wearing black t-shirts and jeans, his phone rang. Pulling it out of his jeans as he bent over one leg, sitting on the ground, Alec flipped it open and nestled it against his ear. "Hello?"

"Alec?" Magnus sounded normal, but below that, Alec could detect a note of something darker. "Listen, hun, about our plans for tonight."

"Yeah?" Alec replied. He and Magnus had been planning to go out to Carrabba's for dinner for about a week now, and they had decided on tonight. But now, Alec had the sinking feeling that dinner would be postponed.

"I won't be able to make it." Magnus's voice suddenly went up a little bit. "I'm going out on a house call and won't be back in time to make the date."

"That's alright," Alec said, confused as to why Magnus's voice had turned a little fearful. Was he scared Alec was going to be mad at him? But he had never worried about that when canceling a date before. "I can come over before you have to go and we can hang out if you want—"

"No!" Magnus suddenly took on a very urgent tone. "You don't come over here, Alec, you hear me? You _don't come here._"

"What, why? Magnus—"

"Stay at the Institute—I'm fine." He was taking quickly now. "You do me a favor, you call Sara McLane, you remember, the warlock from Phoenix?"

"Yeah, but—"

"You call her and tell her—"

A sudden cry cut off Magnus's words, and when someone else spoke, it was in a deep, gruff voice that Alec had never heard before.

"Listen here, little Shadowhunter, if you know what's good for you, you'll ignore the little Downworlder here."

Alec bolted straight up into an upright sitting position, the back of his head connecting with Jace's hip. "Who is this?" he demanded.

"Never you mind, Upworlder."

Only Downworlders used that term.

"You don't worry your happy little hide, and nothing will happen," the voice continued. Alec heard a badly muffled screech of his name before the line went dead.

"Magnus!" Alec shouted into the phone, his heart suddenly shooting into his throat. He leapt to his feet and spun around, grabbing for his seraph blade.

"Alec?" Jace cried in surprise. "Alec, what's wrong?"

"It's Magnus," Alec burst out, shoving open the door to the training room and bolting in the direction of the armory. "Something's happened."

_~vvv~_

He was shoving another two seraph blades into his belt when the door to the weapons room opened again and Jace, Isabelle, Clary, and Simon (he liked to hang around the Institute now because of Isabelle) came in. Simon immediately grabbed a bow and arrow from a nearby rack and began slinging it on. Clary grabbed two seraph blades. Izzy wrapped her whip around her arm and Jace strapped his longsword to his back, grabbed two chakrams, and stuck a knife into his boot.

"Jace filled us in," Isabelle said as Alec stared at them dumbly. "He said that you said something happened to Magnus. We'll all go with you." Her gaze darkened. "If there's something out there powerful enough to incapacitate a High Warlock, one Shadowhunter won't be enough to kill it."

Alec felt an immediate rush of warm gratitude towards his sister and the others, and his fear and relief almost made him want to burst into tears. He set his jaw and strapped a hachiwara to his back.

Crying could wait.

"Let's go," Alec said, whipping around and bolting off, the others hot on his heels.

_~vvv~_

They hitched a cab across Brooklyn and as soon as they neared Magnus's flat, the Sensor in Jace's back pocket began to screech loudly. They all froze, even Simon, which was hard for a vampire to do anyways.

"It wouldn't be picking up Magnus's demon blood, would it?" Clary inquired hopefully. Jace shook his head, pulling it out.

"Whatever's making it go off," he said, whacking it with his stele so it shut up, "it's powerful. Most likely a Greater Demon, or something close to it."

Alec walked up to the front door of the loft, a seraph blade in his left hand, and took the doorknob with his right. It instantly turned under his touch, which was his first clue. Magnus never left his door unlocked.

Pushing it inwards, Alec had to stifle a gasp of horror.

The whole place reeked of magic and ichor. Drawers were thrown from their spots in counters and lay broken on the floor. Doors had been ripped off of hinges. The table in the living room was overturned. The couch, the curtains by the window, the chairs—all of them were shredded and torn carelessly. The TV was cracked.

The Sensor began to make an abundance of noise again. Jace whacked it again to make it be quiet.

"Chairman," Alec called out in barely a whisper. "Chairman Meow. Here kitty-kitty."

He didn't know what made him call out for the kitten, but he heard a tiny mew come from another room. He was about to head for it when he heard Simon hiss his name. He turned.

The vampire was kneeling by the open door, examining it. He had turned his eyes on Alec, his hand next to something carved into the polished wood.

_Resera_. An Unlock rune. A _Shadowhunter_ rune.

"Be careful," Jace mouthed. Izzy pulled a seraph blade free, whispered its name, and crept into the living room, weapon at the ready. Alec nodded once and freed his own seraph blade from his weapons belt.

"_Sandalphon_," he whispered. The blade blazed up in a flash of light, and Alec headed towards another room. The closet door was ripped from the hinges, all the towels and things shredded and tossed carelessly aside.

He pushed open the door to the bedroom—and the reek of the demon was the only warning he got before the door was dragged inwards with a loud sort of sound, and something bowled Alec over.

Alec didn't have the extra air to scream at the others, so he just kicked whatever demon it was hard and it flew away. He rolled to his knees, then his feet, and immediately raised his blade, ready to spear it straight through whatever was at his feet.

"_Alec._" He knew that voice. His hands began to tremble. Suddenly, he wasn't looking at a demon below him. He was looking at Magnus, bruised and beaten and—upset. "_Alec—you wouldn't kill me. You couldn't hurt me. Alexander…_"

Alec dropped his seraph blade and he let out a desperate sob.

"_That's it, Alexander—come here to me._"

"Alec!"

He heard the shriek, he mirrored it with one of his own, and when an unearthly hiss screeched through the air, he blacked out.

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_**Reviews make more chapters come faster! :)**_


	3. Chapter 2--The Pain of Love

When he came to, he found himself laying with his head in Isabelle's lap, the other three bending over him in worry. A moment later, something black and furry dropped onto his face with a loud wail.

"Chairman—geroff!" Alec spat through a mouthful of fur. He sat up and caught the kitten as he fell into the Shadowhunter's arms. His big brown eyes were wide with terror and his fur stuck up in untidy clumps as he let out another mournful wail.

"Alec—are you okay?" Isabelle asked, her hand lightly on his back. "You passed out as soon as I attacked Agramon."

"Agra-Agramon?" Alec muttered. "The Demon of Fear?"

"Yeah," Clary replied. Simon reached out to pet Chairman, who allowed him. "Something must have released it in here."

"Alec," Jace asked. "What did you see when you looked at the demon? We came in and—you were on your knees—crying. After that—you blacked out."

Alec thought back to watching the demon at his feet transform into the battered and beaten shape of his lover, saying his name so gently, so tenderly…

"It was Magnus," he said instantly. Chairman Meow, upon hearing his master's name, flicked his ears up at Alec and meowed softly. "I thought—it was him. I couldn't bring myself to hurt him, I…" He curled up, clutching Chairman Meow to his chest.

"I understand," Simon breathed, putting his hand on the Shadowhunter's shoulder. The cold felt good compared to the heat roaring through his body. "You can't hurt someone you love."

"We need to find whoever took him," Alec finally mumbled. Chairman had gone still, shivering in his arms. Alec raised his head, and Jace saw a new, scary sort of fire burning in his blue eyes. "And when we do—I'm going to _end_ them."

_~vvv~vvv~_

~~Around the same time~

Magnus managed to struggle back into consciousness, and he immediately knew he wasn't at home. Still controlling his breathing so it was slow and even, he assessed the situation. He was on his knees, sitting back on his heels with his back arched, and he would have been doubled over if his arms hadn't been shackled above his head. He could feel metal cuffs at his wrists that pulled painfully at every joint and made his muscles scream halfway down his back. He also noticed his button-up shirt was gone, and his jeans were torn at the knees.

Without flipping out or moving too much, Magnus's eyes drifted slowly around the room, only half open. It was a small cell, with a cot-like appendage hanging from the wall and one wall made of bars. The other three were cold, gray stone. He couldn't see very far between the bars due to the darkness, but he forced his cat eyes to dilate and take in more of what little light there was.

He could see a long, narrow hallway, ending in a heavy wooden door at the other end. There wasn't much else to see besides that.

Letting out a groan that was only half-forced, he pretended to rouse, rolling his head back despite protests from his spinal cord. He quickly assessed what was lashing his hands together. It was two bands of steel looped around each wrist, attached to a chain and driven through a spike in the wall.

"Seems like our pet is awake," a new voice purred. Magnus's head snapped up and pain screeched down his spine like the blow of a dagger. A shadow unpeeled himself from the wall and opened the door to the cell, stepping inside. Even in the darkness, Magnus could see a single Mark curling above the collar of his shirt, around his neck.

"Shadowhunter," he managed to choke out. _But not one I know…_

This Shadowhunter had brown hair trailing halfway down his back and stabbing green eyes. Magnus recognized the dark look that all Shadowhunters had from seeing things they never wanted to imagine, much less stare in the face.

"It's so nice to have our own High Warlock in our residence." He pulled a knife from his belt and trailed it lightly down Magnus's cheek. He turned his head away, but the blade followed. A low, cat-like growl rumbled in his chest. The Shadowhunter laughed. "You're not intimidating, kitty-boy. You're not—and your Shadowhunter friends aren't either."

Magnus immediately lunged forward, but the shackles around his arms jerked him painfully back against the wall with a thump. The Shadowhunter in front of him laughed again.

"You'd better not have hurt any of them!" Magnus yelled. "You'd better not have or I swear I'll—"

"You'll do _what_?" his kidnapper whispered dangerously. He pulled a stele from his belt as well, and tapped it on his hand to activate it. "Hate to break it to you, warlock-boy, but you can't do much of anything right now."

Sparks exploded at Magnus's fingertips—he felt them there. "I still have my magic," he snarled.

"Then I'll just make you unable to use it." Bracing the stele in one hand, the Shadowhunter shoved him back with a hand on his chest—and touched the tip of the stele to Magnus's forearm.

In that moment, Magnus knew what 'agony' was.

He didn't need to draw a rune. The demon in Magnus immediately roared at the nearness of the angel weapon. As soon as it moved, the throbbing pain was incredible. He had never felt pain like this. He screamed out in raw agony, trying to arch away. The stele jerked downwards in a long line, and he screamed again, louder this time as his body fought to reject the touch of the runed weapon. His back arched and his hands fisted, pulling against the steel cuffs so hard he could feel the skin on his wrists tearing.

Magnus collapsed as much as he could, whimpering and shivering badly, his forearm on fire, as the Shadowhunter removed the stele. He was losing all train of reasonable thought—the demon inside him was snarling and fighting against the holy touch, and he suddenly knew what it felt like to go mad.

"I think we'll keep you here until your Shadowhunter friends come," the wicked one standing over him was saying. "Until then—this little mark should be enough to keep you at bay."

Magnus screamed out in Romanian, and the last thing he heard before the light faded again was high, cold laughter and the slam of the cell door.


End file.
